To see a doctor and be bulk-billed, the Commonwealth pays for it but the amount they pay the doctor has not kept up with the current 6.1 per cent inflation rate, only increasing contribution by 1.6 per cent or a miserly 65 cents for every consultation.

The inflationary and increasing cost of providing GP services is one of the main reasons doctors in regional and remote towns are dissipating, a GP at Dubbo Family Doctors, Dr Ai-Vee Chua said.

Those three doctors closed their doors because Medicare rebates for GP consultations haven't kept pace with the high cost of providing health care, Dr Chua, a member of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, said.

The RACGP has warned that more patients will struggle to find GPs bulk billing because the cost to operate is beyond their financial reach.

With GP services becoming scarce, patients will struggle to find a GP taking bulk-billed bookings which can result in patients delaying or avoiding care and having their health conditions deteriorate, Dr Chua said.

As a peak organisation representing GPs across Australia, RACGP president Karen Price has called for a 10 percent increase in Medicare rebates for consultations from 20 to 40 minutes.

For consultations lasting more than 40 minutes or more than an hour, Ms Price said, the RACGP has proposed a new Medicare item be created.

The Medicare rebate increase is one of the key advocacy priorities the RACGP has presented to the new health minister Mark Butler, along with proposals to recruit and retain doctors in dire shortage, particularly in rural areas.

Ms Price said the declining number of doctors and general practice teams must be prioritised by the federal government because primary care has been "in worst shape".

The Australian Medical Association is also proposing to increase the rate of a standard GP consultation to $86 which is currently $38 because Medicare rebates have not been adjusted to the 6.1 percent inflation rate, Dr Chua said.

Among the high costs of running a GP clinic, Dr Chua said, include conducting blood test and following up results, examining x-ray results, finding suitable specialists for specific patient cases, finding allied health services, salaries for nursing and administrative staff, updating equipment to perform minor surgery, cost of technology update and maintenance, electricity, and building rental costs among others.

"Roughly 50 per cent of what a GP earns goes for these costs and the rest goes to paying staff wages which went up 4.6 percent and other services.

"The enormous costs GP practices are shouldering while managing patients during a pandemic you can see what we are up against.

"So, really looking at it, the government is not valuing the provision of primary health care because the GPs are subsidising the cost for patients.

"This is a situation that is eroding the confidence of young doctors to go into GP specialist training when they can specialise and work in other fields in medicine and earn more."

As a lecturer at the School of Rural Health, Dr Chua said many junior doctors have not been able to utilise the benefits of accumulated sick leave and maternity or paternity leave because their employment conditions have not allowed the carry-over of unspent annual leave.

Many junior doctors are finding locum positions or short-term contracts with attractive pay rates a better employment option than staying to work as a GP, Dr Chua said.

The RACGP has found that only 16 percent of medical students pursue GP specialist training which is resulting in a "maldistribution of GPs disproportionately affecting rural and remote towns".

Dr Chua said many doctors who remained practicing in the region are "utterly exhausted" having delivered the COVID vaccinations and treated people with COVID symptoms while also struggling to meet their regular patients needing constant care.

Dr Chua said the solutions to the crisis facing the medical professions would require the commonwealth and states and territories' health departments to work together with effective policies that should focus on support, retention, and recruitment of GPs.

"If there is an opportunity for them to put solutions into place, we will have a fantastic health system. Being a GP is one of the best jobs in the field of medicine. I love my job, and I love to look after my patients...You are there to make a difference in the lives of your patients."

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